Pumping apparatus



June 28, 1938.- w H. sLoAN PUMPING APPARATUS Filed July 24. 19:56

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 2s, 193s.

n Filed Ju1y24. 193e W. H. SLOAN I PUMPING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 28, '1938 PATE NT oFi-lcE PUMPING APPARATUS William H. Sloan, Washington, D. C., assigner of one-half to M. F. McCann, Seale, Ala.

Application July 24, 19,36, Serial No. 92,419 n 11 Claims.

This invention relates `to improvements in pumping apparatus anci in particular to that type which is conventionally known as a rope or chai pump, designed for elevating liquids. r

At the present time, liquids are raised from wells such, for example, as water or oil wells by means of pumps which vinvolve tubing, pistons, cylinders, valves and other mechanical devices, `all subject to wear, corrosion, leakage, and me,- chanical diilculties, giving rise to inefciency, relatively great expense in in stallatiomvmaintenance, and power required for operation, and the greater the distance -of elevation of the liquid, the larger these factors enter into the problems of use of `such apparatus, 'A c The primary purpose of my invention is to overcome the problems found in the known pumping apparatuses abovev referred to by the provision of a simple, inexpensive and highly emcient apparatus, greatly enlarging the field of usefulness, while eliminating numerous and complioatedmechanical parts, and at the same time effecting a saving of power, time and labor, to say nothing of the saving of expense in manufacture.

To this end, my invention takes advantage of the principle that when a flexible cable, such as rope, chain or the like, is passed through a body of liquid, a definite amount of the latter will ad- 'here to the surface of the cable depending primarily upon lthe size and speed of operation of the same, and that by a sudden change in the direction of travel of the cable the entrained liquid may be displaced therefrom.

I am aware that broadly speaking it'has been heretofore proposed to convey liquids to higher elevations by cablemeans and the present invention represents improvements over these prior constructions -by means of which improvements the apparatus is made more practical and emcient, universally adaptable for many purposes, and operable with'much less power requirement.

With the foregoing in View, one of the-objects of the invention is the provision of a' special Amounting for the cable means, enabling the application or removal of said means without disl assembling the parts for` such purpose, said mounting being so constructed and arranged as to maintainthecable reachespat all timesv in proper relative position for effective operation.

Another object in view is theprovision of means in associationwith the cable conveying means for controlling the f eed of liquid'to ysaid conveying means in such amanner a`s to prevent the reaction or retardingv effect incident to the move- (Cl. 10S-72) ment of said means downwardly into the liquid preliminary to the upward movement of the cable means for conveying the same in the upward direction, which effect is found to occur in'the apparatus heretofore proposed. Y

A further object of importance of my invention is the provision of means for producing high pressure flow of the elevated liquid through thef instrumentality of an associated impeller structure.

Other and further objects and advantages of 10 the invention will be hereinafter set forth and the novel features thereof defined by the appended claims.

In the drawings: y Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken about 15 on the plane indicated by the line I-I of Fig. 2 through an apparatus constructed and arranged .in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view taken about on the plane of the i ve 2--2 of Fig. 1; f

Fig. is a fragmentary sectional view of a modifiedform of my invention and more specifically disclosing the impeller device associated with the cable conveying members;

Fig. 4 is a vertical, sectional View on the line 25 4|-4 of Fig. 3;

` Fig. 5 is a vertical, sectional view of the lower portion of the pumping structure including the encasing device for controlling the feed of liquid to the cable to be elevated by the cable members; 30

Fig. 6 is a vertical, sectional View on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the. mouth or feed opening of the casing member; and

Fig. 7 is'a fragmentary detail view of another *mounting for the upper pulley member enabling the removal. of the cable Without dismounting the pulley.

Like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings. 40

Referring to the drawings and particularly to that'form of the apparatus which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, l designates a suitable framework l or housing support which is mounted upon` the elevated. This structure includes a. removable top or cover section 3 within which isv mounted the pulley shaft 4, preferably of non-corrosive material such as stainless steel or the like. The end portions of the shaft are removably mounted in the bearing brackets or plates 5, one such plate being secured by fastenings 6 to the inner wall of the support I at each" side thereof as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The ends of the shaft 4 project from the frame support l and to one of said base 2 over the -body of liquid to be pumped or 45- ends is connectedla suitable motor 'l as by means of the shaft coupling 8 for use when the device is to be power driven, said motor being mounted upon a convenient bracket l attached tothe side of the supporti.

The other end of the shaft is provided with a belt pulley 9 over which the belt l0 passes for driving the shaft manually, as by means of the crank handle ll, fastened to the driving pulley l2 for the belt. It is to be understood that either of these driving means may be dispensed with, depending upon the available source of power, and I do not wish to be restricted to the use of either for the purposes of this disclosure.

Upon the shaft within the top of the frame l is fixedly secured a pulley l3, which in this form of the apparatus is double grooved so as to accommodate two cable members or ropes i6 of the endless type and of sufllcient length to ex` tend downwardly .through an opening in the base 2 into the body of liquid which is to be elevated. In this connection it is to be observed that I prefer to employ a pulleyA member made of some material which will not be affected, chemically or otherwise, by the liquid to be pumped, such as for example micarta, non-corrodible metal, or the like. As for the cables, these are preferably of cotton rope suitably treated by waterproofing material or rubber coated to protect the same against deterioration over long periods of time.

At the lower end of the `c-able means a. pulley device is provided over which the cables are trained. This device consists of a slidable frame l5 provided at its opposite ends with guide supports to receive the vertical guide rods I 6 which depend into the liquid from the uppercasing structure l to which they are connected by suitable fastening means ll. It willbe observed in Fig. l that one side of the frame l5 yis open and formed with a depending arm I8 to receive one end of the pulley shaft i9 which is journalled in the opposite side of the frame at its other end. 0n this shaft the pulley member 20 is secured, said pulleyconforming to the pulley I3 on the upper shaft 4. It will be apparent that the weight of the pulley device just referred to tends to maintain the cable members taut and through the instrumentality of the guide means, these y cable members are preventedv from twisting or becoming entangled in the use of the device.

The'free mounting of the frame member l5 upon the guide rods enables the cables to stretch or contract in the use of the same for the purposes of this invention and it will be apparent that when it is desired to remove the cables from the frame I5, this may readily be accomplished by pulling the frame to the top of the well, if it be in a well, adjacent the platform or base, whereupon the cable or cables may be slipped over the arm I8 for displacement. In the same manner the application of the cables to they frame and its pulleys is readily accomplished by the reverse of the operation.

Likewise the displacement or disposition of the cables from or upon the pulley member I3 on the shaft d may be accomplished by simply lifting the top structure or cover which frees the shaft for displacement from the bearings in the plates 5, Obviously, the foregoing oper-ations do not require removal of bolts or dismantling of the parts to any great extent and a considerable saving in time is effected by this arrangement.

Passing now to the structure of the cover section 3, it will be observed particularly in Fig. 2

that the same is formed with oppositely disposed outlet passages 2l, the inner wall of each of which extends to a point quite close to the face of the cable members so as to assist in the displacement of the liquid from the ropes in a manner to be further described hereinafter.

As a feature of convenience, the top member'is provided with a drinking fountain attachment, said attachment being composed of .the basin or cup 22 through the bottom of which extends a tubular member 23, the said tubular member being closed at the bottom and provided with an opening 2B at one side so as to act in the nature of a scoop to receive water whichmay be caught by the tube and caused to rise through and' flow over the upper extension 23'. 'I'his drinking fountain device is rotatably supported upon the upper cover section so that the mouth or entrance of the tube 23 may be turned into opposite scooping positions or at right angles to such positions-when it is not desired to operate the drinklng fountain.

The operation of this device will be apparent from the foregoing description.

If it is desired to drive the conveying means by power, the switch 'la of the electric motor 'I is closed whereupon the cable members 'lli will be rapidly revolved around the pulley devices and in the direction of the arrows as shown in Fig. 2. This action will cause the cable members to pick up a film of water or other liquid through which the cable means passes and convey said liquid to the top of the apparatus. The water obviously clings to the up moving reaches of the cable means until said cable means changes its direction of travel over the upper pulley members, which sudden change displaces the liquid which is thrown against the side of the delivery spout 2l to flow therethrough as indicated by the ar rows in Fig. 2. It will be understood that the pumping means or cables may be reversely driven, in which case the liquid would be flowed out of the opposite spout 2l. In either direction of flow the fountain attachment 22 may be'properly turned to position for iiowing the liquid out of the tube extension 23', for drinking purposes or otherwise.

I have found from experimentation that a pump of this type may be employed where the standard form of cylinder pump cannot operate, or will operate at a disadvantage due'to Vwearfrom sand and other foreign matter in the liquid to be pumped. Such a pump construction as disclosedV does not require priming, and where it is motor driven, the starting load imposed upon the `motor is very low. In fact by the time the liquid losses in the pump and the riser tute. With the type of pump herein described, all valve parts are dispensed with and the difficulties of freezing which are experienced'with the usual type of pump are entirely overcome.

As regards the capacity of such a pump, I have found by experimentation that this is controlled directly in proportion to the size of the cables and the number of the same, regardless of the lift or elevation to which the liquid is raised. For a given size of cable, twice as much liquid will be elevated'if two cables are employed, and four times as much if four cables are employed. In

view-oi the elimination of valve actions and reciprocating instrumentalities, the noise of such mechanisms is also `entirely eliminated by this construction of pump. v y

Where it is desiredto increase the eillciency of the pumping operation and particularly where high pressure is desirable, the pumping apparatus just referred to may be modified by the incorporation of an impeller device in its construction. i 10 Such an` arrangement is illustrated in Figs. 3

and 4 where the upper cable pulley 25 is enclosed within a housing 26. This housingis secured to the sides of the support I by means of the fastening members 21 and said housing is formed at its central portion with an annular extension 28, to accommodate the impeller 29 secured to or forming-a part of the pulley .device 25.

Inthis form of the device I have shown the pulley as provided with'four grooves to receive four cable members, by means of which a sumto' accommodate the various endless cables for conveying the liquid.. Whenever it is necessary to displace any' one or all of these cable members, it is only necessary to slip the same off of .the free end of the pulley inra manner'l described with reference to the displacement ofthe cables from mentioned that of raising water from open wells,

p'umplng'bilge water. from boats, removing water from cellar drains or y excavations, conveying water in. large qauntities to higher elevations for irrigation purposes, handling such liquids as are manufactured in distilleries, pumping loil from Ioil we lls, acids, alkalies or the like.

cient quantity of liquid mayfbe raised as described hereinbefore into the casing 26. This liquid will be thrown into the peripheral portion or extension 28 where the said liquid :will -be subjected to the impeller action and thrown with great force from thepoutlet 30, from whence it may be conveyed to suitable reservoirs at an elevation.

This form of construction may be `employed for y spraying or' other similar purposes, in which event the necessary iiexible conduits would be connected to the outlet y3|) of the casing 26.

A still/further modification of the apparatusv above' described may be resorted to preferably for In. this connection, the apparatus may be made in'dierent sizes and with varying numbers of v reason, it is to be understood that I do not wish the purpose of increasing the eillciency and cai pacity ofthe pumping device. Such modiflcation is shown in-Figs. and 6 of the drawings. It will be vapparent that in the ,form of the device illustrated in Figs. l and 2 the down moving reach of.

the cable or cables will tend to pick up the liquid and convey it downwardly through that portion tion and in order to take care of this factor, greater power is required than would be the case if the liquid were excluded fromthe down moving reach of the cable.

By placing the casing 3| around the 'portion of the cable means and pulley device which is below the liquid level andproviding such casing with an opening 32 which is of an area calibrated to take care of the amount of liquid which is capable of As fast as the liquid flows into the opening 32,

the cable means acts to pick up the liquid and to convey it in a relatively thin film-upwardly to the top of the pumping apparatus. The opening 32 obviously would be changed according to the nature of liquid'which is to be elevated so as to adequately control the feed of the liquid into the casing il only in proportion to the amount which can be handled by the cable means. v

In Fig. '7 I. have shown a slightly modified form of pulley mounting wherein the motor 1 is directly connected-to the pulley shaft la which has a bearingat only one side of the support l. This shaft extends part way across the support and has mounted upon its en'd the pulley member i3a -about said pulley members, said guide` means.

to be restricted in respect to the eld of application of the pump device which forms the -basis ofthis disclosure.`

Having `thus ydescribed my invention, 'what I.v

claim as new Patent is:

1. Pumping. apparatus of the type' described comprising a supporting frame, a pulley member mounted thereon, endless cable means mounted on said pulley member, a second pulley member cooperating with the cable means and sustained and desire to secure by Letters said second pulley. guide means extending from the supporting frame into the liquid to be pumpedl and with which the second pulley frame is slidably connected lfor maintaining the operative recomprising a rod and said second pulley frame being provided with means interlocking said rod.

Y 2. Pumping Iapparatus of the class described,

comprising'a supporting frame, a pulley shaft mounted on said frame and a pulley member fixed on said shaft, endless cable means extending about said pulley member, a second pulleymember co-acting with the cable means'below said first pulley member for holding the cable means `tensioned, a frame in which the second pulley member is mounted and having an open side,

said endless cable means being removable'laterally from the pulley members through said open side without dismounting the same, and means for actuating said cable means about said pulley members. L v

3. Pumping apparatus of the class described for' raising liquids, comprising a support, oa pulley member mounted thereon, a'n endless cable mounted on said pulley member and extending downwardly into the -liq'uid to be raised, means surrounding thatpart of both reachesv of the l cable projecting into the liquid and having an opening arranged between the down and Aup reaches of the cable for controlling the feed of the liquid to be raised to the up reach of the cable and means for driving said cable from said pulley member.

4. Pumping apparatus of the class described for raising liquids, comprising asupport, a pulley 35 thereby in the liquid to be pumped, a` frame for downwardly into the liquid to be raised, means surrounding that part of the cable projecting into the liquid for controlling the feed of the liquid to be raised to the up reach of the cable, guide means for said surrounding means preventing twisting of the cable, and means for driving' said cable from said pulley member, said means surrounding the cable consisting of a casing for excluding the liquid from the up and down moving reaches `of the cable and having a feed opening into which the liquid flows to the up moving reach of said cable.

5. Pumping apparatus of the class described for raising liquids,-comprisinga support, a pulley member mounted thereon, an endless cable mounted on said pulley member and extending downwardly into the liquid toV be raised, a second pulley member sustained by the downwardly ex tending portion of the cable for tensioning the same, including an open sided frame for said pulley member, said frame comprising a housing for enclosing the up and down moving reach of the cable below the liquid level and having a feed opening to admit the, liquid to the up moving reach thereof, means for actuating the cable by one of said pulley members, andv guide means to which said second pulley member and frame is slidably connected and interlocked against rotary movement.

6. Pumping apparatus of the class described for raising liquids, comprising a support, a pulley member mounted thereon, an, endless cable mounted on said pulley member and extending downwardly into the liquid to be raised, impeller means associated with said pulley member and of greater diameter than said member for imparting pressure to the liquid raised by the cable means, and means for actuating said cable through said pulley member.

7. Pumping apparatus of the class described for raising liquids, comprising a support, a pulley member mounted thereon, an endless cable mounted on said pulley member and extending downwardly into the liquid to be raised, impeller means associated withrsaid pulley member for imparting pressure to the liquid raised by the cable means, an impeller housing. surrounding the pulley member into which the liquid is conveyed by the cable means, and com-monmeans for actuating said pulley and. impeller means.

8. In apparatus of the class described for le vating liquids, comprising a supporting frame, a pulley member mounted at the top of said supporting frame, cable means engaging said pulley means for yieldably holding the cable means in the supporting frame including a discharge pasmember anddepending into the liquid to be raised,

sage for the liquid, and water discharge means y mounted on said cover member and having means extending below said cover member to receive the liquid as it is raised by the cable means over the pulley member and convey it from the supporting frame;

` 9. In apparatus of the class described for elevating liquids, comprising a supporting frame, a

' pulley member mounted at the top of said supporting frame, cable means engaging said pulley member and depending into the liquid to be raised, means for yieldably holding the cable means in said liquid, a cover member for the top of the supporting frame including a discharge y passage for the liquid, and water discharge means mounted on said cover member and having means extending below said cover member to receive the liquid as it is raised by the cable means over the pulley member and convey it from the supporting frame, said water `discharge means being adjust- 'able to control the intake and discharge of the liquid to and from the same.

10. Pumping apparatus of the class described comprising a supporting frame, a pulley member mounted on-said frame, a plurality of endless cable members engaging said pulley member and depending into the liquid to be raised, an impeller member comprising a disc oi! greater diameter than the pulley member and mounted between the cable members, and a casing surrounding said impeller member into which liquidl elevated by the cable members is introduced by said cable members, and means for operating the pulley and impeller member to create pressure. for electing the liquid from the impeller casing. g

1l. Pumping apparatus of the class described for raising liquids comprising a support, a pulley memberv mounted thereon, an endless member mounted onsaid pulley member and extending downwardly into the liquidto be raised, a casingon said support to receive the liquid raised, means n. sLoAN. 

